Internet reacts to Elon Musk’s massive Twitter buy-in

Elon Musk’s unprecedented Twitter buy-in has divided opinion across the globe, with many at the company firing up at the billionaire “transphobe”.

Elon Musk’s surprise Twitter buy-in has sent shockwaves across social media, with both critics and advocates weighing in on what the billionaire’s 9.2 per cent stake in the company means for the future.

The move, valued at $2.89 billion (A$3.4 billion), came a month after Musk raised questions about the ability to communicate freely on Twitter, tweeting about the platform’s handling of numerous free speech issues in March.

“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” he tweeted on March 25, offering a subtle clue of the news that was about to break.

“The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.”

As the company’s largest shareholder, Musk now has a significant amount of power over the platform he has openly ridiculed.

Musk’s unpredictable online persona and tendency to stir the pot of controversy has earned him several detractors, especially from those critical of America’s giant wealth divide.

The eccentric billionaire drew outrage in 2020 after sharing a two-word tweet declaring “pronouns suck” followed by an offensive meme mocking gender pronouns.

A number of employees at Twitter immediately announced their resignation upon hearing the news Musk had become a major shareholder, with some linking the Tesla founder’s support of free speech to transphobia.

One senior employee questioned how the move would affect the current “company culture” but admitted he was pleased to see the stock price soar. Another data scientist at Twitter claimed that “a prominent transphobe buying a large stake in Twitter is not at all funny”.

“Leftist Twitter employees have taken to social media to complain about Elon Musk becoming the company‘s largest stakeholder,” independent journalist Andy Ngo said. “They are angry about the company’s leftist culture potentially being challenged.”

On the other side of the fence, fans of the eccentric celebrity celebrated the news, describing the move as a “win for free speech” and expressed hope his huge stake will mean the end to the tech giant’s “chilling censorship”.

Cassie Nick Rumbaugh, a data scientist at Twitter, is among the employees and contractors very upset that @elonmusk is now the largest stakeholder in Twitter.

"A prominent transphobe buying a large stake in Twitter is not at all funny," she says. pic.twitter.com/gFSy52YsTZ

— Andy Ngô 🏳️‍🌈 (@MrAndyNgo) April 4, 2022

Twitter’s online policy has seen several political accounts eradicated from the platform in recent years, including former US President Donald Trump following Washington’s January 6th fiasco in 2021.

As one of the world’s most-frequented websites and a platform for breaking news, many now believe Twitter has overreached in its role as a communications service by actively silencing voices on one side of political debates.

Musk has echoed these sentiments himself and believes the internet’s policy on communication and information should adopt a more “open source” approach.

His views appear to clash with Twitter’s new CEO Parag Agrawal, who last year admitted the website had a responsibility to curate information for its users and was not bound by the US First Amendment.

“Our role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation and our moves are reflective of things that we believe lead to a healthier public conversation,” Mr Agrawal said in November.

Elon Musk’s 9.2 per cent stake in Twitter has left many concerned for the future of the company. A number of employees announced their resignation upon hearing the news, citing fears the website’s ‘culture’ will be affected.

In typical Musk fashion, he immediately made light of the news of his purchase, putting forward a poll for his 80 million followers last night asking whether Twitter should offer an “edit” option for tweets.

The only two options were spelt “yse” and “on”.

The poll gathered two million responses in the first 18 hours with 74 per cent voting yes. Thousands more weighed in on the suggestion, pointing out major flaws in adding the ability to tweak existing posts.

“Under two conditions. It’s only available for a few minutes, 5-10 mins. And when an edit is made, there’s a small link that shows the edit,” one follower said. “This keeps a public record but allows the tweeter the ability to fix a simple mistake and not re-notify their followers with a new tweet.”

Musk replied saying this suggestion “seems reasonable”.

“Twitter is seen as a news source, if there‘s an edit button. It’ll be very easy to spread misinformation, which defeats the purpose,” another added.

Musk, an avid supporter of cryptocurrency, went on to say the he believed crypto scam bots were “the single most annoying problem on Twitter”.

Do you want an edit button?

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022